The Space Development Agency has launched an experimental satellite into orbit aboard the Cygnus NG-16 spacecraft as part of an effort to reduce the risk to the agency’s upcoming satellites, scheduled for launch in 2022. The Prototype Infrared Payload was launched on Aug. 10 and will test the use of a multispectral sensor to detect […]
Michael Watkins is stepping down from his role as director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in South Carolina and plans to resume his academic and research career as a professor of aerospace and geophysics at the California Institute of Technology. His last day at JPL will be on Aug. 20, Caltech said Monday. NASA Administrator […]
The U.S. Space Force has selected three additional companies to join a pool of launch providers competing for missions under the Orbital Services Program. OSP-4 is an indefinite-delivery / indefinite-quantity contract that allows for the rapid acquisition of launch services on behalf of the Space Force. The three companies are ABL Space Systems, Astra Space […]
Lt. Gen. John Shaw, deputy commander of the U.S. Space Command, believes it is only a matter of time before cybercriminals target the commercial space sector given the interconnectedness of the cyber and space realms. Speaking at the Small Satellite Conference, Shaw said commercial space assets will likely face various cyber challenges, including ransomware attacks […]
Researchers working with NASA are considering launching a companion mission to the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite spacecraft. TESS was launched in April 2018 and surveys the sky from an elliptical two-week orbit above the Earth. It carries four cameras to perform its observations but a fifth was manufactured as a flight spare. The proposed second […]
Col. Eric Felt, director of the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate, has expressed disappointment in the Space Force’s slow progress in building a more resilient space architecture. Speaking at a National Security Space Association event, Felt said it is important for the nascent service branch to explore innovative capabilities to stay ahead of […]
The Mars rover Perseverance has failed to collect any material after making its first sampling attempt, and NASA scientists and engineers are currently working to understand why. On Friday, NASA said in a statement that Perseverance had drilled a sample from a rock on the floor of the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater. However, the sample […]
Maxar Technologies announced Wednesday that the National Reconnaissance Office has exercised a contract option to continue procuring satellite imagery services from the company through August 2022. The NRO, the agency developing and operating classified spy satellites, acquires satellite imagery from multiple commercial vendors, but it was reported that Maxar is its largest supplier. The NRO […]
Launch vehicle company Astra has signed an agreement with the Defense Innovation Unit to execute two launches using the Rocket 3 vehicle. Under the agreement, Astra’s Rocket 3 will carry a U.S. Space Force test payload during its next attempt to reach orbit. The first launch will take place from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on […]
The Air Force Materiel Command said it has been designated the servicing major command for the U.S. Space Force. AFMC is a major command tasked with managing installation and mission support, test and evaluation and life cycle management services and sustainment for major Air Force weapon systems. The first-of-its-kind servicing structure is aimed at providing […]
